PI Foundation

PI Foundation was established as a trust in the year 2012 to provide dedicated focus to community development and our CSR initiatives. Our major focus areas are around the neighbouring communities across our manufacturing locations and the farming community across the country to whom we communicate the latest scientific advancements in the field of agriculture.

In line with our CSR philosophy, PI Foundation undertook several community development initiatives over the years, a glimpse of which is presented ahead.

Water Conservation through Improved Agriculture Practices: PI Foundation is closely working with Policy Makers, Industry Chambers, Agricultural Universities, NGOs and Farmers on the Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) Technology. Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) is recognized as highly efficient in saving water. Agriculture uses over 85% of India’s water resources and within it Rice alone uses about half the water used in Indian agriculture. DSR with it’s eco-friendly characteristics is being seen as a potential alternative to conventional transplanted rice. In the national drive of “per drop, more crop” DSR technique holds immense potential in saving this precious resource. Our efforts have resulted in changing the rice cultivation practice into DSR in over 675,000 hectares; a saving of over 355 billion gallons of water annually.

Community Drinking Water Initiative: PI has installed community RO water plants to mitigate the challenges of safe drinking water in the States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. The areas were meticulously chosen where excessive fluoride and Iron content in the drinking water was found. The unsafe drinking water caused many health problems in the region.

PI Foundation also supported installation of safe drinking water facility in the rural villages of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Provision of tap water facility in village schools has also been created as per the required need of the area.

Mobile Health Units: PI Foundation initiated “SWASTHYA Seva” through three Mobile Medical Units with an aim to provide access to preventive, promotive and curative health care to 60 remote villages of Jambusar Taluka, primarily to cater to over one lakh people residing in these villages. On an average every month a van attends to over 2100 patients in the coverage area. The project is conducted in partnership with GVK, EMRI. Extension of Medical services through Mobile Medicare Van has been the flagship program of the CSR initiatives around plant location. Elderly, Women and Children all benefit from the services rendered by Mobile Medical van. As a result financial burden of villagers on health expenditure has been tremendously reduced. Prior to the introduction of PI Mobile Medicare Van services, people not only spent lot of time and money in commuting long distances, but also were dependent on quacks for actual service delivery and thus had to compromise with low quality services.

Scope of Swasthya Sewa:

Primary Diagnostics (Clinical & Laboratory) for common ailments on an outdoor basis

PI Foundation actively participates in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan programme of Government of India, giving priority to the provision of household toilets and school toilets, particularly for girls, as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Our programmes mostly focus around Ankleshwar and Jambusar where PI’s manufacturing units are located.

Through this initiation, PI Foundation has contributed towards construction of 559 toilets under PPP model for the marginalized communities in Sarod and Nondhana villages of Jambusar Taluka and Sanjali village of Ankleshwar Taluka. Our intervention has accelerated sanitation coverage in rural areas to achieve the vision of Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan and brought an overall improvement in the quality of life in surrounding villages of the plant location at Jambusar & Panoli.

PI Foundation has also contributed in constructing toilets in 11 Elementary Schools in Panoli and Jambusar under the Swachh Vidyalaya Programme. The Foundation is implementing School Advocacy Program to create Awareness, Sensitization, Education of students, teachers, SDMC members and other stakeholders on the importance of sanitation, hygiene and other do’s and don’ts. The direct outreach of this programme is over 3000 children, parents, teachers & community members in surrounding schools of plant location. This has resulted in the betterment of water system, sanitation and overall hygiene in schools and nearby villages.

Education is the entry point activity in all the villages around our plant location. PI Foundation recognizes education as a key element in overall development of citizens. Based on the gaps in surrounding schools, PI Foundation provides support to children enrolled in these schools for improving the enrolment, attendance and quality of education. The Foundation also encourages participation of School Management Committee in the activities focused on overall development of children.

Our support towards various school infrastructure developments ensures improvement in the delivery of quality education to children.

Provision of Notebooks and Stationeries to over 4500 children in 16 Government schools.

Provided the basic facilities of 160 pair of bench & desk for appropriate seating arrangement of children in Govt. aided Sarod Sarvajanik High School, Jambusar to promote education in the remote pocket.

Installation of CCTV camera in Govt aided Puja Mandir High School Nahar, Jambusar which is mandatory to conduct examination. This helped set up examination centre at a remote location.

Provision of Electric Motor & Water Cooler in Govt. Elementary School Samoj, and support to Vedach, Uber & Salehpur, Sangdi - Kimoj villages in Jambusar for safe access to drinking water and its surrounding locality.

Provision of paver-blocks for neat and tidy school campus.

The PI Foundation is supporting the Ankleshwar Industrial Development Society for executing a “Mobile Education Van Project” to provide joyful teaching techniques to teachers deployed in remote Government Elementary Schools

Women empowerment programme is aimed at “Entrepreneurship development and Skill Enhancement of over 2500 Women members of self-help group by access to finances, resources, opportunities and strengthening of traditional livelihood opportunities in 15 villages of Jambusar. The programme has been effective in the formation of Self Help Groups, opening of Bank Accounts, internal lending & 100% repayment of loans and bank linkages so far. The programme has also created platforms for women to engage with Government machinery for accessing their rights and entitlements. The centre point of project is the development of skills of women members for pursuing Income generating activities, building financial capital for improved access to credit on a sustainable basis & build-up of modest asset base for undertaking new ventures. The programme has created positive impact on earnings of over 2500 members directly and over 5000 family members indirectly.

Promotion of DSR Technology: PI Foundation is creating awareness amongst Policy Makers, Industry Chambers, Universities, NGOs and Farmers on the Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) Technology, which helps 25-30% savings in costs related to irrigation and energy, water conservation, labour since there is no transplantation apart from benefits on improved soil porosity and less carbon emission translating to a savings of nearly Rs. 5,000 per hectare to the farmer. PI Foundation is actively working with several State Agriculture Universities (SAU) and State Agriculture Departments and NGOs in promotion of DSR technology and practices amongst farmers. Our efforts have resulted in changing the rice cultivation practice to DSR in over 600,000 hectares, a saving of over 130,000 crores litres of water annually.

Farm Engagement Programmes: PI Foundation entered into an MOU with Punjab Agricultural University for spreading awareness on ‘Whitefly Management in Cotton’. A two-year project to be covering cotton growing regions and farmers of Punjab, the program aims to conduct large scale field demonstrations on IPM strategy for management of whitefly and impart skill by providing hands-on training. We are also promoting Farmer Field Schools (FFS) for season-long training on Cotton-IPM and establishment of Model Villages.

Below are a few programs that are initiated by PI

PI – Raichur University CSR Project

Training Farmers on Water Conservation in Rice Production through Change in Method of Cultivation

ICAR-IARI and PI Foundation Agri CSR Project

Development and Dissemination of Efficient on-Farm Water Conservation and Management Technologies to Farmers

PI – CABI Initiative

Rice Clinics to address the growing demand for rice faster than production, and exploring ways to enhance India's rice yield per hectare.

PI – Crop Clinic Initiative in Bihar

Improved preparedness of farmers in dealing with conditions that arise from nutrient deficiency and pest/insect attack. Better information accesses to farmers which will help them improve yield and optimize the cost of production in farming.

Income Generation Program through Sustainable Agriculture in Orissa

Inadequate income from agriculture and lack of good agricultural practices has led to seasonal unemployment/migration in Rayagada District of Orissa. To enhance the Agri based farm income of small and marginal farmers PI Foundation with Harsha Trust has initiated hands-on training on different aspects of the production practices including the working of hand held tractors, drillers, sowing methods, leaf chart diagram for effective nutrient management, judicious use of pesticides, storage, extension, market linkages etc.

MOU with Punjab Agricultural University for spreading awareness on ‘Whitefly Management in Cotton’

The project is covering cotton growing regions and farmers of Punjab by conducting large scale field demonstrations on IPM strategy for management of whitefly and impart skill by providing hands-on training. We are also promoting Farmer Field Schools (FFS) for season-long training on Cotton-IPM and establishment of Model Villages.

Agri Skill Development: PI Foundation has entered into MOU with government institutions and specialized agencies in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka for imparting vocational training to rural youth with a view to enhance their employability. In the first year of its inception, 120 rural youth from agricultural families, who had already passed Higher Secondary, completed the 45 days residential vocational training which included both theory & practical lessons. A specialized curriculum covering the wide range of topics which a farmer encounters in their agricultural practices is packaged focused on honing the farm skills to increase productivity with judicious use of land, water and other available resources. 100% of the trained youth were successfully placed on completion of the program. We are now initiating similar skill development programs in other states.

Certified Vocational Training Program on Chemical Plant Operators: PI has signed a MOU with “The Centre for Entrepreneurship Development”, Government of Gujarat for skill generation in the chemical sector, in the presence of Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi, on 20th September, 2012 as part of Vibrant Gujarat 2013 event.

The programme helps Science Graduates/ Post Graduates (B.Sc./M.Sc.) from economically weaker sections of society to undergo a specially designed training course to enhance their employability. PI Foundation has signed a MOU with Anchor Institute – Chemicals & Petrochemical, Dharmsinh Desai University (DDU), Nadiad, Gujarat. Through the programme we have been able to successfully place over 200 students as”Chemical Plant Operators” with various companies . The 90 days certified training course is specially designed with Industry feedback on skills required in the industry to get the students absorbed

Skill Training cum Employment Program for underprivileged youth on “Employable Skills” in Jambusar PI Foundation has entered into a MoU with Indiacan; A Pearson Group Company (the world's largest education service provider) to provide vocational training with placement support to the underprivileged youths coming from a class which admittedly still has remained at the lowest stop on the economic ladder. Every year approximately 500 youth from the economically weaker background are being trained and gainfully employed in BPO, Hospitality and Sales domain.

PI Foundation through its engagement programmes ignites interest amongst staff and associates where contribution to the society is voluntary.

A number of initiatives are organized every year across our pan India locations where employees not only take part in the activities but proactively organise events for voluntary contributions such as donating Blood, clothes, food materials and other necessary utilities time and again.